Monday, December 10, 2007

Lichee Wan-Hop Kee

Probably every Jewish family in Knickerbocker Village had a regular weekend destination at a Chinese Restaurant in Chinatown. For my family it was #21 Mott Street, known then as Lichee Wan. My friends, the "twins," went to the Shanghai Restaurant on Pell Street. The manager of Lichee Wan was a guy named Joe, who always talked to us about horse racing. Now, what would be the odds that there would be a Joe in every Chinese restaurant with a similar story? Pardon my political incorrectness. I was back to #21 not too long ago. Now it's Hop Kee. The interior is completely different and much bigger. I think it has incorporated a restaurant that was next door. The food is excellent. As a kid all I knew from Chinese food was combination plates and The Family Dinner for 2, with a choice of one dish from column A and one from column B. For that I could have been eating in some restaurant on Ocean Avenue in Brooklyn.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

BACK IN THE LATE 50'S-EARLY 60'S I LOVED THE TING YET SING RESTAURANT AT 21 MOTT ST DOWN STAIRS. FANTASTIC FOOD & LOW PRICE.I WORKEG ON STONE STREET BUT LIVED IN JERSEY CITY. GREAT TIMES, FOOD PEOPLE. BILLY SHANNON